Israeli President Shimon Peres and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople embrace as Pope Francis and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas look on during invocation for peace in the Vatican Gardens June 8. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

From Vatican Information Service, details about yesterday's historic meeting at the Vatican:

Vatican
City, 9 June 2014 (VIS)  Yesterday afternoon the Vatican Gardens
hosted the Invocation for Peace, the initiative Pope Francis proposed to
presidents Shimon Peres and Mahmoud Abbas during his recent pilgrimage
to the Holy Land, to pray for the gift of peace for the Israeli and
Palestinian peoples. Peres and Abbas arrived in the Vatican at 6.15 and
6.30 p.m. respectively, and were received by the Holy Father at the
entrance of the Domus Sanctae Marthae, where he spoke briefly first with
the Israel president, and then with the Palestinian.

Shortly
after, they entered the Santa Marta Hall where they were joined by the
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomaios I, and then transferred by car to the
Vatican Gardens where they were awaited by their respective
delegations. The meeting began with the following words: “May the Lord
grant us peace! We are gathered here, Israelis and Palestinians, Jews,
Christians and Muslims, to offer our prayer for peace for the Holy Land
and for all its inhabitants”.

As previously explained, the
meeting took place in three phases, followed by a conclusion. Following
the chronological order of the three religions, it began with the Jewish
community, followed by Christians, and finally Muslims. The first
phase, for the three communities, consisted of praise to God for the
gift of creation and for having made us members of one human family. The
second was a plea to God for forgiveness for not having acted like
brothers and sisters, and for our sins against God and neighbour. The
third invokes from God the gift of peace in the Holy Land and the
capacity to be converted into builders of peace. Each of these phases
was accompanied by a brief musical interlude. A longer musical
meditation concluded each of the three principal parts. At the end,
before exchanging handshakes and planting an olive tree as a symbol of
the common desire for peace between the Palestinian and Israeli peoples,
the Holy Father, President Shimon Peres and President Mahmoud Abbas all
gave brief discourses.

“Distinguished Presidents”, began Pope
Francis, “I greet you with immense joy and I wish to offer you, and the
eminent delegations accompanying you, the same warm welcome which you
gave to me during my recent pilgrimage to the Holy Land. I am profoundly
grateful to you for accepting my invitation to come here and to join in
imploring from God the gift of peace. It is my hope that this meeting
will be a path to seeking the things that unite, so as to overcome the
things that divide. I also thank Your Holiness, my venerable Brother
Bartholomaios, for joining me in welcoming these illustrious guests.
Your presence here is a great gift, a much-appreciated sign of support,
and a testimony to the pilgrimage which we Christians are making towards
full unity”.

“Your presence, dear Presidents, is a great sign of
brotherhood which you offer as children of Abraham. It is also a
concrete expression of trust in God, the Lord of history, Who today
looks upon all of us as brothers and Who desires to guide us in His
ways. This meeting of prayer for peace in the Holy Land, in the Middle
East and in the entire world is accompanied by the prayers of countless
people of different cultures, nations, languages and religions: they
have prayed for this meeting and even now they are united with us in the
same supplication. It is a meeting which responds to the fervent desire
of all who long for peace and dream of a world in which men and women
can live as brothers and sisters and no longer as adversaries and
enemies”.

“Dear Presidents, our world is a legacy bequeathed to
us from past generations, but it is also on loan to us from our
children: our children who are weary, worn out by conflicts and yearning
for the dawn of peace, our children who plead with us to tear down the
walls of enmity and to set out on the path of dialogue and peace, so
that love and friendship will prevail. Many, all too many, of those
children have been innocent victims of war and violence, saplings cut
down at the height of their promise. It is our duty to ensure that their
sacrifice is not in vain. The memory of these children instils in us
the courage of peace, the strength to persevere undaunted in dialogue,
the patience to weave, day by day, an ever more robust fabric of
respectful and peaceful coexistence, for the glory of God and the good
of all. Peacemaking calls for courage, much more so than warfare. It
calls for the courage to say yes to encounter and no to conflict: yes to
dialogue and no to violence; yes to negotiations and no to hostilities;
yes to respect for agreements and no to acts of provocation; yes to
sincerity and no to duplicity. All of this takes courage, it takes
strength and tenacity”.

“History teaches that our own powers do
not suffice. More than once we have been on the verge of peace, but the
evil one, employing a variety of means, has succeeded in blocking it.
That is why we are here, because we know and we believe that we need the
help of God. We do not renounce our responsibilities, but we do call
upon God in an act of supreme responsibility before our consciences and
before our peoples. We have heard a summons, and we must respond. It is
the summons to break the spiral of hatred and violence, and to break it
by one word alone: the word 'brother'. But to be able to utter this word
we have to lift our eyes to heaven and acknowledge one another as
children of one Father”.

“To him, the Father, in the Spirit of
Jesus Christ, I now turn, begging the intercession of the Virgin Mary, a
daughter of the Holy Land and our Mother. Lord God of peace, hear our
prayer! We have tried so many times and over so many years to resolve
our conflicts by our own powers and by the force of our arms. How many
moments of hostility and darkness have we experienced; how much blood
has been shed; how many lives have been shattered; how many hopes have
been buried… But our efforts have been in vain. Now, Lord, come to our
aid! Grant us peace, teach us peace; guide our steps in the way of
peace. Open our eyes and our hearts, and give us the courage to say:
'Never again war!'; 'With war everything is lost'. Instil in our hearts
the courage to take concrete steps to achieve peace. Lord, God of
Abraham, God of the Prophets, God of Love, You created us and You call
us to live as brothers and sisters. Give us the strength daily to be
instruments of peace; enable us to see everyone who crosses our path as
our brother or sister. Make us sensitive to the plea of our citizens who
entreat us to turn our weapons of war into implements of peace, our
trepidation into confident trust, and our quarrelling into forgiveness.
Keep alive within us the flame of hope, so that with patience and
perseverance we may opt for dialogue and reconciliation. In this way may
peace triumph at last, and may the words 'division', 'hatred' and 'war'
be banished from the heart of every man and woman. Lord, defuse the
violence of our tongues and our hands. Renew our hearts and minds, so
that the word which always brings us together will be 'brother', and our
way of life will always be that of: Shalom, Peace, Salaam! Amen”.

President
Shimon Peres then addressed those present: “I have come from the Holy
City of Jerusalem to thank you for your exceptional invitation”, he
said. “The Holy City of Jerusalem is the beating heart of the Jewish
people. In Hebrew, our ancient language, the word Jerusalem and the word
for peace share the same root. And indeed peace is the vision of
Jerusalem. As it is said in the Book of Psalms: Pray for the peace of
Jerusalem. May those who love you be secure. May there be peace within
your walls and security within your citadels. For the sake of my family
and friends, I will say, 'Peace be within you'. For the sake of the
house of the Lord our God, I will seek your prosperity”.

“During
your historic visit to the Holy Land, you moved us with the warmth of
your heart, the sincerity of your intentions, your modesty, and your
kind ways. You touched the people’s hearts  regardless of their faith
or nation. You emerged as a bridge-builder of brotherhood and peace. We
are all in need of the inspiration which accompanies your character and
your way. Thank you”.

“Two peoples  Israelis and Palestinians 
still are aching for peace. The tears of mothers over their children are
still etched in our hearts. We must put an end to the cries, to the
violence, to the conflict. We all need peace. Peace between equals. Your
invitation to us to join you in this momentous ceremony to call for
peace, here in the Vatican garden, in the presence of Jewish, Christian,
Muslim, and Druze leaders,graciously reflects your vision of the
aspiration we all share: Peace. On this moving occasion, brimming with
hope and full of faith, let us all raise with you, Your Holiness, a call
for peace between religions, between nations, between communities, and
between fellow men and women. Let true peace become our legacy soon and
swiftly”.

“Our Book of Books commands upon us the way of peace,
demands of us to toil for its realization. It is said in the book of
Proverbs: 'Her ways are ways of grace, and all her paths are peace'. So
too must our ways be. Ways of grace and peace. It is not by chance that
Rabbi Akiva captured the essence of our Torah in one sentence: 'Love
your neighbour like thyself'. We are all equal before the Lord. We are
all part of the human family. For without peace, we are not complete,
and we have yet to achieve the mission of humanity. Peace does not come
easy. We must toil with all our strengths to reach it. To reach it soon.
Even if it requires sacrifice or compromise. The Book of Psalms tells
us: 'Whoever loves life and desires to see many good days, keep your
tongue from evil and your lips from telling lies. Turn from evil and do
good, seek peace and pursue it'”.

“This is to say, we are
commanded to pursue after peace. All year. Every day. We greet each
other with this blessing. Shalom. Salam. We must be worthy of the deep
and demanding meaning of this blessing. Even when peace seems distant,
we must pursue it to bring it closer. And if we pursue peace with
perseverance, with faith, we will reach it. And it will endure through
us, through all of us, of all faiths, of all nations, as it is written:
'They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into
pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will
they train for war any more'. The soul is elated upon the reading of
these verses of eternal vision. And we can  together and now, Israelis
and Palestinians  convert our noble vision to a reality of welfare and
prosperity. It is within our power to bring peace to our children. This
is our duty, the holy mission of parents. Let me end with a prayer: He
who makes peace in the heavens shall make peace upon us and upon all of
Israel, and upon the entire world, and let us say Amen”.

Finally,
the president of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas, said: “It is indeed a great
honour for us to meet again with His Holiness Pope Francis in fulfilment
of his kind invitation to relish his spiritual and noble presence, and
listen to his opinion and crystal wisdom, which emanate from a sound
heart, vibrant conscience, as well as an elevated ethical and religious
sense. I thank your Holiness from the bottom of my heart for initiating
this important gathering here in the Vatican. Simultaneously, we highly
appreciate your visit to the Holy Land Palestine, and in particular to
our Holy city Jerusalem and to Bethlehem, the city of love and peace,
and the cradle of Jesus Christ. The visit is a sincere expression of
your belief in peace and a truthful attempt to achieve peace between
Palestinians and Israelis”.

“Oh God, we ever praise You for
making Jerusalem our gate to heaven. As said in the Holy Quran, 'Glory
to Him who made His servant travel by night from the sacred place of
worship to the furthest place of worship, whose surroundings we have
blessed'. You made pilgrimage and prayer in it as the best acts the
faithful can make in your praise, and made your truthful promise in your
say: 'Let them enter the Masjid as they did for the first time'. God
Almighty has spoken the truth”.

“O, Lord of Heaven and Earth,
accept my prayer for the realisation of truth, peace and justice in my
country Palestine, the region, and the globe as a whole. I beseech You, O
Lord, on behalf of my people, the people of Palestine  Muslims,
Christians and Samaritans  who are craving for a just peace, dignified
living, and liberty, I beseech you, O Lord, to make prosperous and
promising the future of our people, and freedom in our sovereign and
independent state; Grant, Oh Lord, our region and its people security,
safety and stability. Save our blessed city Jerusalem; the first Kiblah,
the second Holy Mosque, the third of the two Holy Mosques, and the city
of blessings and peace with all that surround it.

“Reconciliation
and peace, O Lord, are our goal. God in His Holy Book has addressed the
faithful: 'Make peace among you'. Here we are, O God, inclined to
peace. Make firm our steps and crown our efforts and endeavours with
success. You are the promoter of virtue and preventer of vice, evil and
aggression. You say and you are the most truthful, 'And if they incline
to peace, incline thou also to it, and trust in Allah. Lo! He is the
Hearer, the Knower'. In the saying of Prophet Muhammad, 'Spread the
peace among you'.

“Today, we reiterate after Jesus Christ
addressing Jerusalem: 'If only you had known the path of peace this
day'. Also let us remember the words of Saint John Paul II when he said:
'If peace is achieved in Jerusalem, peace will be witnessed in the
whole world." Simultaneously, in our prayer today, we repeatedly call
after those who advocate peace: 'Blessed are the peace makers', and
'Call for the peace of Jerusalem', as came in the Holy Scriptures”.

“Accordingly,
we ask You, O Lord, for peace in the Holy Land, Palestine, and
Jerusalem together with its people. We call on you to make Palestine and
Jerusalem in particular a secure land for all the believers, and a
place for prayer and worship for the followers of the three monotheistic
religions Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and for all those wishing to
visit it as it is stated in the Holy Quran”.

“O Lord, You are the
peace and peace emanates from You. O God of Glory and Majesty grant us
security and safety, and alleviate the suffering of my people in home
town and diaspora. O Lord, bring comprehensive and just peace to our
country and region so that our people and the peoples of the Middle East
and the whole world would enjoy the fruit of peace, stability and
coexistence. We want peace for us and for our neighbours. We seek
prosperity and peace of mind for ourselves and for others alike. O Lord,
answer our prayers and make successful our endeavours for you are most
just, most merciful, Lord of the Worlds. Amen!”

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